Team Flexi
by Tyrant King
Summary: A two-man SPARTAN team meant to basically do any leftover jobs has recently been assigned to go out and rescue civilians in the Alaskan wilderness. After finding a certain Elite, they also find someone from the past that might break the team apart.
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N: My first Halo story. ^^ Enjoy. Oh, and it CAN be cannon, if you want it to, it doesn't affect anything from the main game/book plot of the Halo series. This is basically a little side story that occurs about a week before Halo 3 begins.)**

_**Team Flexi: Chapter 1, Alliance  
**_

"This is SPARTAN-071. Reporting for mission briefing," a voice stated through the communication link between the UNSC ship Renegade Suite.

"Is your companion with you?" an admiral currently occupying the ship asked.

"Of course. This is SPARTAN-088, also reporting for mission briefing."

"Alright, men. Remember, you're on an evac mission, and it seems that you're getting close to your primary target. Based on what I can tell from your current locations and the last known location of the civilians, you two are getting pretty hot."

"Admiral, may I ask exactly why we're spending so much time and effort saving civilian lives?" SPARTAN-088 inquired curiously.

The admiral groaned. "Every human life is worth saving, soldier. Get to it. We'll have to cut communications for now so that the alien bastards don't get the idea that we're here," and with that, the admiral's voice was replaced by the buzzing of static.

* * *

On what remained of the thick forests of what used to be Northern Alaska, the two SPARTANS quickly made their way through a thick slosh of snow on their customized Warthog LRV.

"Yo, Charles. How many survivors do you think there are?" SPARTAN-088 asked, skillfully maneuvering the two ton LRV around several potentially devastating tree clusters.

Charles-071 groaned. "Just keep driving. I think it's worth it even if we save just one civilian. You know how many people have been killed by the Covenant?" He looked through the heat-seeking scope of the Warthog's machine gun turret. "Besides, Evan, I'd rather do this than what the Majors originally had planned for us."

"Yeah, I don't think evacuating several hundred pooping elephants isn't that exciting either," Evan-088 muttered in defeat.

"After what you did to that pod of dolphins a few weeks ago when we were on that ocean recovery mission, the entire UNSC has been putting us on Earth biosphere patrol duty 24/7," Charles-071 sighed.

"Hey! I just wanted to make them move faster…"

"Yeah, well, shooting several dozen rounds of your Assault Rifle in the water didn't necessarily make them faster," he pointed out, "it killed them."

"Well…yeah…" Evan-088 said. After an awkward moment of silence between the two soldiers, Evan-088 slammed on the brakes.

"What the hell was that for?!" Charles-071 yelled in shock, nearly being thrown off the turret, almost ripping the weapon off the Warthog itself.

Evan-088 held up a hand. "Listen, and look at your motion sensor."

Charles-071 glanced at his sensors, and a jumbled group of red dots appeared. They both became silent as they listened to the crunching of snow. Something began speaking…something not human. It sounded like a familiar enemy.

"Jackals," Charles-071 confirmed. He pulled out his Magnum and signaled for Evan-088 to take out his weapon as well. The latter complied and took out a Battle Rifle to cover Charles-071's approach. "I see them on the motion sensors…they're coming from that way." He thrust a finger to the left.

Evan-088 held his Battle Rifle's scope up to his visor. "I see them. There's only four?"

"Yep. Scouts," Charles-071 snarled. He held his Magnum's scope up to his visor as well.

"The basic plan?" Evan-088 asked.

"Yep, you take the right, I'll take the left. Piece of cake," they both pulled the triggers of their weapons in perfect sync.

* * *

Charles-071 kicked the remaining, dying Jackal across the face, killing it efficiently. He took its deactivated, but still functional shield and tossed it to Evan-088. "Take it, the ONI needs more Covenant tech."

"Don't they already know how to make shields?"

"Well, why not give 'em another example for the hell of it?"

Evan-088 shrugged, grabbed the shield, and tossed it on the passenger seat of the Warthog. "Let's move, we're burning daylight."

"Fine," Charles-071 sighed, taking a few plasma pistols for backup weapons.

* * *

"I really, really hate snow…" Charles-071 grumbled, waist-deep in the icy substance.

Their obliterated Warthog sat several meters away. An unwelcome attack by a few Covenant Spirit carriers had slowed them down significantly. What remained of said carriers was strewn all across the forest.

Evan-088 said nothing, he was actually amazed by the snow. After all his years as a SPARTAN-II, he had never actually spent time in the snow. As a teenager, he was brutally trained on the warmer parts of Reach, and hadn't seen snow until this point.

"Did you ever notice how white the snow was?" Evan-088 asked.

"Yeah, I would know. I was born in Alaska, it was white enough to nearly blind me at one point. Why do you ask?"

"No reason…" Evan-088 said.

Charles-071 frowned, but didn't bother to say anything. "I wonder what happened to Jessica," Charles-071 said, quickly changing the subject.

"I know right?" Evan-088 replied, smirking to himself.

Charles-071 and Evan-088 were different from the rest of the SPARTAN super soldiers as a whole. Instead of being kidnapped at the age of six, they were actually taken in by the UNSC at the age of thirteen, for reasons unknown. They were able-minded enough to make their decisions, but were eventually whipped into shape along with the rest of the trainees.

And before they were captured and sent to a life of fighting Covenant, they had both fallen for one girl. Jessica Lee. She was, essentially, perfect in both of their eyes, and after learning that they both had feelings for her, they became bitter rivals. After they were captured, Charles-071 and Evan-088 were assigned to a two-man miscellaneous SPARTAN team called "Flexi Team," with no known purpose other than to do jobs that simply had to be done.

They quickly set their rivalry aside to fight a common enemy and eventually became best friends, or at least the closest to what the UNSC would allow to best friends.

"Well, I suppose she's probably married…or dead…" Charles-071 murmured.

"Yeah…everyone we knew is gone…" Evan-088 lamented. The two-man army continued on their trek until Charles-071 paused.

He quickly pulled out his Assault Rifle and began shooting at a tree. Evan-088 looked at him in complete dismay, or rather, until he saw the shimmering and sparking of only one known covering: Energy shielding.

It was an Elite with Active Camo on. Evan-088 tugged his Battle Rifle off of his back and assisted his fellow SPARTAN in ending the Elite's life.

The Elite threw a purple rod on the ground, and a wall of Covenant Deployable Cover deployed within several seconds, efficiently blocking their attacks. "HUMANS, STOP!" it barked.

Charles-071's weapon was smoking by the time he took his finger off the trigger. Evan-088 followed suit. "Come out of there and face us like a real warrior would!"

"Do not fear me. If you believe I have weapons, you are clearly mistaken, for I have none. I pose no viable threat to any of you," it called from its blue energy covering. "You did not receive the news?"

"What news? You're a Covenant bastard and we're here to take you down. Nothing's changed," they both yelled back.

The Elite sighed. It emerged from its Deployable Cover and revealed itself to the two SPARTANs. Its bronze armor began to shine in the little sunlight available. This Elite wasn't like the rest, its armor was duller, had ceremonial designs painted on it, and its helmet was a different shape than the rest.

"I am the Arbiter," it said, putting a hand on its chest. "You two Spartans obviously haven't been told by your superiors that my kind had allied themselves with yours. Typical human behavior, but nonetheless, we both share a common enemy, hold your fire."

"The…Arbiter?" Evan-088 asked.

"Yes, the Arbiter. The leader of all of my kind. The Prophets had betrayed us, with the false belief that activating the Halo rings would lead the Covenant to salvation, when it was actually a suicide mission. I have come to assist any human survivors on their journey back to the lands which they came."

"So…Arbiter…" Charles-071 inquired, lowering his Assault Rifle, "…you're basically trying to rescue human civilians?"

The Arbiter thought about it for a while before replying. "Actually, any human soul I come by is worth rescuing."

"Alright then," Charles-071 slung his Assault Rifle over his back and held out his arm for the Arbiter to take. "Sorry about the rough start there, but let's get going. We have a mission to complete."

Evan-088 still clutched his Battle Rifle to ensure that if anything happened between Charles-071 and the Arbiter, he would be ready. The Arbiter slowly approached the SPARTAN, and cocked his head to one side, as though confused.

"It's called a handshake. You're supposed to take my hand and shake it as a sign of peace."

"Human customs…" the Elite muttered, rolling his eyes. He took the SPARTAN's hand and firmly shook it. The Arbiter quickly turned around and pointed to a thick collection of undergrowth. "Come, the Brutes have our scents. Follow me."

"Then they must love the smell of badass," the two SPARTANs said in unison, high-fiving.

* * *

"Ah, here we are," the Arbiter said, literally pushing a small cluster of trees aside. "Spartans, come."

Charles-071 and Evan-088 followed suit, leaping out into the open. Two Ghosts were stationed on a patch of snow. "Ghosts?" Evan-088 asked.

"Yes, these will be our transports for the evening. Until your human admirals and such send reinforcements, or possibly an evacuation crew, we'll be stuck here for an indefinite period of time," the Arbiter replied.

"But how are we supposed to…?" Charles-071 trailed.

"Share one," the Elite said, hopping into his own Ghost.

* * *

"Never…speak…about this…" Evan-088 warned his comrade.

"Trust me, I don't think I want to," Charles-071 replied, fighting the urge to laugh.

The two SPARTANs were in an awkward situation, or rather, at least for Evan-088.

While Charles-071 piloted the Ghost by sitting in the driver's seat, Evan-088 was stuck barely hanging on from the back of the Ghost. Charles-071 jerked left and right on a few separate occasions just to tick off his teammate.

"Halt!" the Arbiter yelled over the sound of the Ghost's thrusters. The trio quickly skidded to a halt in front of a steep mountain face. "Let's go."

"Don't tell me we're climbing that thing…" Evan-088 said, getting off the Ghost. The Arbiter threw him some climbing equipment from his Ghost's storage unit.

"We have to. The Brutes have ensured every other way up this mountain face had been blockaded or destroyed. Our only option now is to reach for the heavens," the Arbiter stated. He took out a Gravity Lift and set it up next to the mountain face. "Allow me to be your guide yet again."

Charles-071 secured his climbing equipment and nodded at the Elite. "Go ahead."

The Arbiter grimaced and walked onto the Gravity Lift, levitating himself upwards. He grabbed onto a rock and began climbing. "Back on my home world, we were trained from infancy to climb mountains."

"Why?" Charles-071 asked/yelled from below.

"On our home world, or at least, the region where I was raised in, we were close by the sea. And if, by any possible chance, fell into the unforgiving waters, we would have to climb our way back up."

"Ah," the SPARTAN replied. "Well, let's move like we have a purpose here."

"Agreed," Evan-088 said.

* * *

"Alright, one more tug!" Charles-071 urged the Arbiter.

"Human, it's not my fault that your accomplice weighs half a ton!" the Elite yelled.

"Yeah, well, it's not much of a walk in the park for me either, especially with him tugging a Ghost along with him," Charles-071 replied.

Both SPARTAN and Elite were attempting to pull Evan-088 up the mountain face with the latter bringing a Ghost for offensive purposes. He literally grabbed the vehicle and held it with one hand while being pulled up by the Arbiter and teammate via some sort of tough Covenant rope.

With one final tug on the rope, the Ghost and SPARTAN landed in a heap several meters away from the spent Arbiter and Charles-071.

Evan-088 stood up and turned the Ghost right-side-up. "Okay, that's done and over with, let's keep goin'," he said, not knowing the strain he put on his two travel mates. "It's almost dark, we have to start moving fast...COME ON!" They both stood up and looked at one another. Nodding, the Arbiter and Charles-071 slowly advanced on Evan-088. "Guys?"

"You get the rope, I'll hold him down."

"Gladly, Spartan."

* * *

"GAH! OW! SHIELDS ARE HALFWAY SPENT-AUGH!" Evan-088 yelped as he was dragged along behind the Ghost, hitting several dozen boulders, trees, and other annoying natural debris.

"We're heading uphill towards a known Brute camp," the Arbiter yelled above the roar of the Ghost's thrusters (and the SPARTAN's yells). "There are possibly some humans being held captive for ransom."

"Sounds like something the Brutes would do," Charles-071 replied, sprinting alongside the Ghost. "Any plans?"

"Well, we're following your kind's strategy," the Elite replied darkly.

"Oh? Which is?"

"Kill everything that moves." The Arbiter skidded the Ghost to a stop, and Charles-071 followed suit. After some side-effects of Isaac Newton's Laws of Physics, Evan-088 shot out from the undergrowth and snow and bounced somewhat comically on the ground before stopping in front of Charles-071's feet. He shook his head and pointed at his teammate.

"I...didn't...know..." he gasped.

* * *

The darkness of the night quickly overtook the trio, and the SPARTANs were forced to use their motion sensors and enhanced seeing to stealthfully make their way around the underbrush and snow. The Arbiter, on the other hand, had gone into Active Camo mode and decided to use a more open path to the Brute camp.

"The Spartans are covering the Southern route, I got the Southwestern route," the Elite muttered to particularly no one. He took out his custom-made night vision scoped Carbine and scanned the area. He spotted a few Grunts sleeping near a few carefully placed boulders which seemed to be covering some sort of entrance to the unknown.

He took out his Energy Sword and quickly dispatched of the little vermin. "I never liked those guys anyway," the Arbiter mumbled, dropping the corpse of a recently killed Grunt. The Elite glanced at the boulders and cracked his fingers.

Bracing himself, the Arbiter moved in between both rocks and began pushing the objects away from the opening. Slowly, the boulders began to give in and separate. Soon enough, a gap large enough for the Elite to slip through had been forced open. He deactivated his energy shields for the time being to prevent any hassles and slipped through.

The Arbiter found himself in an open clearing, and spotted a few Brutes in the darkness and activated his Active Camo. He growled in hatred of his past rivals, now complete enemies. After considering grabbing out his Energy Sword a few times, the Arbiter reconsidered and thought that the Brutes should be given a much more degrading death than one by the Sword.

He reached for a Plasma Grenade, activated the sticky menace, and tossed the blue orb at the Brutes. Within five seconds, the Brutes went from confused to a pile of random anatomical parts_. _The Arbiter, satisfied by his handiwork, was only able to bask in the glory of obliterating his opponents for a short amount of time. A flurry of Jackals, Grunts, and even more Brutes emerged from the shadows.

The Arbiter smirked in amusement. Now it was time to use the Sword. He reached for his weapon and activated it, taking off his Active Camo. "Let's see how well you've been trained in combat."

* * *

"Do you hear that?" Evan-088 said.

Charles-071 heard the sounds of Brutes yelping, Grunts going insane, Jackal bones cracking, and Plasma Grenade explosions. "It sounds like our friend, Arby, has found the base."

Suddenly, the duo heard a twig snapping nearby. "It also sounds like the bastards from the base found us."

* * *

The Arbiter jumped off from the back of an oversized Hunter, tearing off the beast's head and leaving the body to fall. He thrust the Energy Sword into the creature's decapitated head, for good measure.

With the bodies of several dozen Covenant soldiers laying around him, some with plasma burns, some with Energy Sword wounds, and others who were torn apart limb from limb. It's actually not surprising this Elite received the title of Major, Kaidon, and Arbiter within just a few years.

Just as the Arbiter began to move on, he heard a Grunt from behind him. "HE'S A DEMON!!!" it shouted. The Arbiter thrust his Energy Sword to his left, stabbing the nuisance through the skull. The unlucky Grunt stumbled over and died.

"They should really, really start thinking of new battle plans," the Elite sighed, walking away from the carnage.

* * *

"OVER TO YOUR LEFT!" Evan-088 yelled.

Charles-071 didn't hesitate to throw a well-aimed punch to his left side, crushing the skull of an unsuspecting Jackal. He threw his Assault Rifle at a random Brute after he had seen that the ammo count had lowered to zero. The Brute fell over and crushed several Grunts as he passed out from the force of the throw. Evan-088 kept firing his Battle Rifle's 3-shot bursts at incoming Drones while Charles-071 took the battle hand-to-hand.

Several minutes beforehand, the two SPARTANs were calmly making their way through the dimly lit forests of the mountain they were on. After the snapping twig, Charles-071 went to investigate, only to be thrown back by a Hunter. And after killing the beast, the noise the SPARTANs had made attracted even more Covenant.

Evan-088 ducked and narrowly avoided a full-on Brute Spiker round to the head. The tree behind him was snapped in half from the force of the shots. His teammate leapt up from behind the Brute and swiftly assassinated it with his combat knife.

But it simply wasn't enough. They were too close to the actual base, and more and more Covenant came pumping in from all sides. Eventually, both Charles-071 and Evan-088 ran out of options as their weapons either broke or ran out of ammo. "Use anything you can get!" Charles-071 yelled, chucking a Plasma Grenade at a group of Grunts.

Needler, Brute Spiker, and Carbine rounds came from the SPARTANs as they picked up whatever they found laying next to their defeated foes. Their salvaged weapons lasted only for so long until they were forced to start using Brute Plasma Rifles, plasma pistols, and even the foolishness of the Covenant soldiers they were fighting themselves.

They were at a tactical disadvantage during the firefight. Of course being too close to a base meant trouble, but they were backing up to a steep cliff wall, basically cornering themselves as they fought on. Neither of them took notice of the disadvantage and continued to fight as long as they could.

Charles-071 and Evan-088 were attacked by a pair of Brutes from behind. The two beasts snarled and held the SPARTANs up by the neck as the duo struggled to escape from their captors. Suddenly, a flash of artificial light blinded them, and most likely blinded the Brutes as well. The swishing sound of an Energy Sword and the sound of the Brute's asses falling on the ground meant only one thing: the Arbiter had arrived.

The Elite cut off the flare and took out his Carbine, sharp shooting most of the Covenant soldiers that approached. He took a few seconds to toss Evan-088 and Charles-071 two Needle Rifles that hadn't been used since the assault on planet Reach.

Within a few minutes, all of the Covenant soldiers that were once somewhat healthy and alive, were now laying on the ground with Carbine and Needle rounds lodged in their foreheads.

"It's been a while since I've seen one of these," Charles-071 mused, examining the Needle Rifle in his hands.

"Yeah," Evan-088 tossed his on the ground, "one of these killed my brother."

* * *

The trio eventually moved on from the site of the full-scale firefight and eventually found yet another boulder blockade.

"We got this," the two SPARTANs said, giving the Arbiter a chance to rest. With surprising ease, the two super soldiers tugged the boulders out of the ground and tossed them several meters away.

"Heh, that was easier than pulling you and that Ghost uphill..." Charles-071 said, slightly amused.

The Arbiter went back into Active Camo and moved in first, taking out his Energy Sword for good measure. The two SPARTAns followed suit, with their new weapons raised and ready to score a few headshots on some unlucky Covenant scouts.

* * *

"I think that's the last of 'em," Evan-088 called out, stomping on a Brute's skull, killing the larger enemy easily.

"The Loyalists have secured this area quite tightly," the Arbiter said. "I wonder what they have hidden in this base."

Charles-071 searched through a few Covenant tents. They were like the old-fashioned tents the UNSC used for long missions...only more futuristic, purple, and more Covenant-ish. He managed to scrounge up a few Carbines and even a Gravity Hammer left laying around.

"I call the hammer," Charles-071 declared, thrusting the oversized weapon over his shoulder. "Hey, Arbiter, Evan, pick up a few Carbine rounds, we're gonna need 'em."

"Yeah, Needler rounds just give our position away too easily...I mean, they're bright pink," Evan-088 pointed out, exchanging his Needle Rifle for a fully loaded Carbine.

"Yes, well, what's that human quote again? 'Real men shoot pink?' " the Arbiter asked.

Charles-071 was about to answer the Elite's question when he spotted some movement in a nearby tent. He had forgotten about this one, the last tent that hadn't been searched through yet.

The SPARTAN held up his Carbine and slowly walked towards the tent. "Back me up, guys," he called to his fellow teammates. Charles-071 wasn't about to take any chances, especially not this close to his primary destination. Oh no, if anything pops out of there that's unwelcome, the trio would pulverize it with or without projectile fire.

He slowly, deliberately lifted the curtain up and jumped inside. Outside, the Arbiter and Evan-088 heard some very human screams. "Survivors," they both said in unison.

* * *

**(A/N: That's the end of chapter one, any questions you have will be answered in the next chapter, which is really a Q/A kind of thing, followed by the next chapter of the PLOT. Alright, catch ya later.)**


	2. It's Question Time!

**(A/N: This is the Q and A section of the story, for the next chapter of the REAL plot, hang on a bit, we're almost there.)**

_Questions and Answers_

Q: What is a Warthog?

A: A UNSC vehicle usually mounted with a turret used for a number of different missions.

Q: Who is Jessica Lee?

A: A girl living on the home planet of Charles-071 and Evan-088, and was also the duo's love interest, which caused them to be bitter rivals at first.

Q: What's the Arbiter doing again...?

A: The Arbiter has been sent out on a mission (partly against his own will) to rescue any human survivors in different sections of the globe after Covenant attacks. He just so happened to be in the neighborhood when Charles-071 and Evan-088 came onto the scene.

Q: Wait...what happened to the Covenant Spirits?

A: Most likely, Charles-071 shot 'em down with his salvaged plasma pistols. Those things could easily disable enemy vehicles. Airborne or otherwise.

Q: Why are Charles-071 and Evan-088 stuck doing these sorts of jobs?

A: Well, long story short, it's their punishment for disobeying officials when they were undergoing training far too often. And so, instead of fighting alongside the Master Chief, they're stuck on Earth, Mars, etc, cleaning up leftover Covenant and finishing the job. They had been recently assigned Earth biosphere patrol duty after Evan-088 made the mistake of firing his Assault Rifle at an incoming pod of dolphins during an ocean salvage mission. They've redeemed themselves (sort of) by saving the last pair of breeding Pandas from a couple of Brutes and instead of being assigned a mission in which they had to herd elephants into safe spots all over Africa and Asia, they were able to get some variation and do the rescue mission.

Q: How is Evan-088 able to hold a Ghost with one arm, but Charles-071 and the Arbiter could've only barely tugged him up?

A: Well, when you add the weight of a ghost to a SPARTAN's overall weight (body armor + body weight), and seeing that an Elite isn't as "super powered" as the SPARTANs were, Charles-071 had to consider accidentally tearing off his partner's arm, and possibly even killing the Elite by accident, if he had used all of his strength in one go.

Q: How does Jessica Lee fit into the story?

A: Read on after the second chapter is finished, then you'll understand.

Q: Where is the Master Chief?

A: Right now...taking into account of the Halo novels, comics, and graphic novel, he's landed on Earth via Forerunner ship and the events of Halo: Uprising are in place.

Q: If the Chief is the "last Spartan," what the hell are these two Spartans doing alive?

A: Correction, the Master Chief is BELIEVED to be the last Spartan, however, the ONI and UNSC have kept their secrets from the public before...

Q: What's gonna happen to Charles-071 and Evan-088 if they didn't do anything on the Ark during Halo 3?

A: We don't know that. Trust me, I know what I'm doing.

Q: Why are weapons from Halo: Reach being used?

A: Partly because the Beta has been out for a while now (Note: This was written on May 17, 2010), I deemed it fit to put a few Needle Rifles in there to celebrate the event.

Q: Will anything Forerunner-related be in this story?

A: Again, read and learn.

**(A/N: Well, that covers a lot of probable questions left by chapter 1. Hang on for chapter 2!)**


End file.
